Catalysing Business Across Africa and the Caribbean: The Afreximbank African Trade Centres Vision

This Thursday marks a major milestone in Nigeria’s trade and investment landscape with the official opening of the first Afreximbank African Trade Centre (AATC) in Abuja. A bold step toward regional economic integration and global competitiveness, this state-of-the-art complex is more than just an office building—it is a symbol of Africa’s commitment to self-reliance, innovation, and sustainable development.

The Abuja AATC is a striking twin nine-storey development comprising an advanced office tower and a 148-bed bespoke four-star business hotel. Designed with sustainability at its core, the complex incorporates green-certified architecture that meets global environmental standards. But beyond its aesthetic and structural brilliance, the AATC is built to facilitate trade, incubate small businesses, and empower the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Equipped with dedicated spaces for exhibitions, SME incubation, trade support services, and conferences, the Abuja AATC is the first in a planned series of integrated trade hubs across Africa and the Caribbean. These centres are part of Afreximbank’s broader vision to drive intra-African and extra-African trade through physical infrastructure, bespoke financial services, and advisory support—creating scalable and replicable models of development across the continent.

The journey to this moment began in 2018, when Afreximbank introduced the idea of building trade facilitation hubs in nine key commercial capitals. These cities include Abuja (Nigeria), Harare (Zimbabwe), Kampala (Uganda), Cairo (Egypt), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Yaoundé (Cameroon), Kigali (Rwanda), Tunis (Tunisia), and Bridgetown (Barbados). With land secured from governments and support from private sector partners, Afreximbank launched the Abuja and Harare projects in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The Abuja centre is now ready, while the Harare AATC is expected to open this August. Construction is already underway in Kampala, and plans for the Cairo centre are set for September 2025.

These centres represent successful public-private partnerships and a significant push for modern commercial infrastructure that meets global standards while addressing uniquely African trade challenges. As Afreximbank continues to provide counter-cyclical support, these hubs aim to accelerate the continent’s economic transformation by clustering businesses, streamlining trade services, and boosting innovation.

The AATC initiative extends beyond Africa. In Barbados, the forthcoming AATC is designed to act as a gateway for trade between Africa and the Caribbean. Scheduled for completion in 2028 with a $180 million investment, the centre will host Afreximbank’s CARICOM headquarters and include an SME incubator, a digital trade gateway, hotel accommodations, and a trade exhibition space. The project is expected to generate 300 permanent jobs and significantly enhance regional trade ties.

In a world becoming increasingly fragmented, initiatives like the AATC are more than infrastructure—they are bold statements about Africa’s intent to lead, connect, and thrive on a global scale. The Abuja centre, as the first of its kind, will be closely watched as a blueprint for future hubs and a real test of how business clusters can spark meaningful development, foster resilience, and shape the future of trade across continents.